False Humanity
by Hcrawford14
Summary: The only thing more tantalizing to a vampire than human blood is that of a mermaid, although none have gotten close enough to taste, separated by the ocean's depths. When a young mermaid gets too close to the shores of Texas, a vampire discovers and bites her. Yet this mermaid does not die upon being drained, and awakens on the shoreline mysteriously changed…Bella/Jasper pairing(?)
1. Chapter 1

A dark blue tarp painted with twinkling stars covered the seemingly uninhabited shoreline of Houston, Texas. The ocean's current rippled the full moon's reflection, tugging a humanoid shape with it, which dragged itself from the water, coming to a rest on the sandy beach.

The creature sat up and reached down to stroke her tail melancholically. Gazing up at the moon, she let out a huff of frustration, running a hand through her long, brown hair. It was only under the full moon that a mermaid such as herself could come ashore and breathe human air. She wasn't sure if any other merfolk knew; it was forbidden to breach the surface as she had done every full moon for the past decade. Being a nomad among her kind, this mermaid had explored many shorelines across the globe, but this was her first time on the shores of Texas.

The mermaid tilted back her head and closed her eyes, enjoying the dry warmth of the surface while she could. She was torn from her ecstasy by a ravenous exhale just behind her. Sharply turning her head, the mermaid came face to face with an extremely pale human with fiery red eyes.

Licking his lips lustily, the man growled, "I don't know what you are, but your scent is the most alluring thing I've ever experienced…you wouldn't mind if I had just a small taste?"

The vast, lifeless beach echoed with her inhuman shrieks.

**I know this was a short chapter, but it's more of a teaser to introduce my idea! If you like it, please let me know! Any advice or encouragement helps. Regardless, I plan to post a second chapter soon, and actually introduce some characters :) Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed this story! A special thank you to my two reviewers, JynxxD and BetterinFlorida. I appreciate your interest in my story, and I hope you continue to read and give feedback! Now, onto the next chapter! It is significantly longer than the little teaser Chapter 1.**

**Oh, I also forgot my disclaimer on the last chapter. I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing them to play around with some ideas of my own ;)**

Bella's sat up, pressing her hands against her throbbing head after that awful dream. A chill ran down her spine as she recalled the image of the strange human with the red eyes and sharp, fang-like teeth, thankful he wasn't real. As Bella attempted to open her eyes, her vision got covered with blotches at the sun's glare. _Since when is the sun this bright underwater?_ she pondered. It was then that Bella realized she wasn't under the sea, but on the Texas beach from her dream.

As her vision cleared, she stared at the sandy shore where her single tail had once been only to find two human legs in its place. In a panic, Bella reached her hands down to examine the mysterious transformation, only to find her hands unwebbed and her arms smooth, no longer dappled with blue scales. The color of her skin itself had changed from an icy blue hue to a pale white, reminding her of the white coral she saw by the shores of Italy. Bella frantically ran her hands up and down her arms and legs and through her hair, unsure whether she was trying to convince herself that this wasn't really her or that it was. The only tangible remainder of her mermaid self seemed to be her seashell-encrusted seaweed dress.

_What happened to me?_ Bella began to wonder if the dream had been real; if perhaps the red-eyed human had done this to her. Yes, it must have been real. Pain that severe could not have been a simple dream. Holding up her left wrist, Bella examined the strange, crescent moon mark that remained from him biting her. It had a silvery blue tint to it, sparkling in the sunlight.

Bella was startled out of her introspection by voices…human voices. Instinct kicking in, Bella leapt onto her new feet and dove into the water, surprising herself with her own speed and agility. Unable to swim with her new limbs, Bella sank like a rock to the ocean floor, 10 feet below the surface. She was surprised to find she did not need to breathe under the water. If humans could swim without breathing, why didn't they ever venture deeper into the ocean? Why did merfolk only ever see them in those strange metal contraptions or floating above the water on wooden crafts? Shrugging this off, Bella attempted to maneuver herself upward, choosing to crawl back towards the shore when swimming failed her. She managed to cling to a large boulder and pull herself above water, safely out of sight of the shoreline. From this vantage point, she surveyed the source of the voices.

"Peter, the sun is coming up, we should go."

"C'mon, Char, where's your sense of adventure? You don't really wanna go hole up inside all day, now do you? I'm sure our old hideout was around here somewhere, and we can sunbathe all day without worrying about humans catching us."

_That's strange, they look human to me. Why would they be worried about being found by their own kind?_

"And what if someone _does_ happen upon us in all our sparkly glory?" The one called Char retorted.

"Well, I _am _a little thirsty…" responded the male one, Peter, was it?

Char groaned and punched Peter playfully in the shoulder. She then looped her arm through his and turned to face the ocean, sighing, "We should move back North, like Jasper. The sun isn't such an issue there."

Peter didn't respond, his brow furrowed in tense curiosity as he too surveyed the coast.

"Peter? What's wrong?"

Instead of answering her, Peter stepped forward and shouted, "I know you're out there! I can smell you. If you truly mean no harm, you'll reveal yourself immediately or suffer the consequences. I know you're one of us…but something's different…where are you? _What_ are you?"

Bella's eyes grew wide with fear as she realized he must have been talking to her. Cowering behind the rock, Bella debated what to do next…she couldn't swim away fast enough, but she had been pretty fast on land. However, surely another human would be just as fast as her new human form. Before she could decide what to do, a loud thud reverberated through the rock to which she clung, and she looked up to discover Peter on the boulder above her, his hand clasped around her neck. Peter leapt up with her throat still tight in his grasp and slammed her down on the sandy beach near Char, causing a dusty cloud to billow up around them all.

"Peter, stop!" shrieked the woman, rushing forward to pull him off of Bella's quivering form, "Can't you see the poor thing is terrified?"

"She's not a _poor thing_," growled Peter viciously, "No Texas vampire ever is."

Finding the courage to speak out of her daze, Bella choked, "V-vampire? I'm not…I'm just a mer…a human…I think…"

At this panicked statement, Peter's expression seemed to soften ever so slightly.

The woman came and knelt by Bella's side, her hand resting gently upon her arm. "You mean," she said softly, "You don't know what you are?"

Bella turned her head to face Char, only to find herself gazing into a pair of blood-red eyes. Recoiling in shock, Bella could only manage to shake her head. Noticing the increased fear in the girl, Char stood up and stepped backwards to where Peter had retreated.

"We have to help her. She has no idea what has happened," Bella overheard Char whisper; "The least we can do is take her to Carlisle and Jasper. They're pretty good with the whole newborn thing."

After a stare-down that seemed to last hours, Peter let out a sigh of defeat and turned from Char to the sandy girl. Holding out his hand to her, Peter said, "I'm Peter Whitlock, and this is my mate, Charlotte. You can trust us, we're here to help, I guess…"

Bella glanced from Peter's outstretched hand to Charlotte's encouraging smile. Unsure what other options she had, Bella placed her hand in Peter's, entrusting her new self to the two red-eyed humans.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright friends, here is the newest chapter! Sorry it took a little while, I wrote most of it a couple days ago but then I left my laptop at work and couldn't get back around to the story until just now. We ****_might_**** be seeing a little Jasper in Chapter 4...and for you Jasper/Bella fans, check out "Wedding Day Jitters" by mcangel1976. It's a favorite of mine that is still being written, and you should all check it out! As always, I would love to read your thoughts in reviews or PMs. Thanks for your support, I hope you enjoy!**

As the sun rose higher in the sky, Peter and Charlotte's skin began to shimmer unlike any human Bella had ever seen before, reminding her of sunlight sparkling on clear blue waves.

"We need to get inside," Peter mumbled as he guided Bella over into Charlotte's arms and began walking away from the water. Charlotte and Bella followed him across a valley of burned, hardened black sand that felt strange against the icy skin of her bare feet. The three pale figures entered a seemingly abandoned old hovel, Peter closing a creaky door behind them.

Bella turned to examine their surroundings. The entire building was no more than 30 square feet, the only light coming from filthy broken windows and holes in the ceiling. The floor was nothing but hard-packed sand and rocks.

"Home sweet home," Peter smirked, "We move around a lot, so it's rather pointless to find anywhere particularly nice."

_Nomads_, thought Bella, smirking as she recalled some of the run-down shacks she had called home in her travels.

The most peculiar part of this house was the smell, which could not be described as anything but _delicious_. The sweet and salty aroma seemed to rise from the crusty red stains that were splattered on the floor and walls. Although pleasant, the scent also made Bella's throat burn as if she just swallowed a puffer fish whole. "My throat…" she rasped, clutching her neck and falling back against a wall.

Peter and Charlotte glanced at each other, shifting uncomfortably. After a few minutes of strained silence, Charlotte stepped forward, placing her hands gently on Bella's shoulders. Wordlessly, Charlotte turned Bella around to face the wall behind her, causing Bella to come face to face with two other red-eyed humans.

Freezing in place, Bella relaxed when she realized one of the figures she now faced was merely Charlotte's reflection. Yet that didn't explain the second figure. Glancing around the room, Bella realized it was still just the three of them, so she slowly returned her gaze to the reflected women to take a closer look. The figure next to Charlotte had long, brown, curly hair and extremely pale skin. She could almost be Bella's twin if not for the flaming red eyes…Bella's eyes.

"That's…me?" Bella whispered unbelievingly, "What's happened to me? My eyes are–"

"Like ours," Peter interjected, "And also like us…you're no longer human. Believe it or not, you're a vampire, at least as far as I can tell."

Peter spoke the word with pause, as if he expected Bella to be shocked or afraid somehow. However, Bella had never heard the word before and merely cocked her head to the side in frustrated confusion. "What's that?" she mumbled.

"You've never heard of vampires?" Peter guffawed, "Dracula? Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Nothing?"

Bella shrugged, embarrassed by her lack of apparently common knowledge.

Charlotte's reflection looked at Bella with increased pity as she whispered, "We're not like other humans…we're not even technically alive…check your pulse, dear."

Bella did. With agitation, she tried again, pressing her fingers firmly above her collarbone, on her wrist, even on the side of Charlotte's neck, desperate for some sign of life. Finally, Bella gave them the expected reaction and started to hyperventilate, her eyes wide with shock and panic.

"I'm…dead?"

"_Un_dead," Peter emphasized, "We prefer the more hopeful term 'semi-immortal.' We're still living in every sense of the word excepting…well…life. It's virtually impossible to kill us unless…well…no need to go into details now. However, we do need to get you fed soon."

The mere word caused Bella's throat to burn with renewed vigor. She glanced around, hoping for some sign of human food before recalling what Peter had just said. _If we're not…living…why do we need to eat? _What _do we eat?_

It was only then that Bella noticed Charlotte's absence from her side. She began to panic at the notion of Charlotte leaving her alone with the man who nearly strangled her no more than fifteen minutes ago. Yet when her eyes locked with Peter's, she saw a new light in them. He looked at her with compassion and concern, almost protective. He reminded her of an older brother in that moment, anxious to tend to her needs and make sure nothing bad would happen to her. She smiled at the thought. She'd never had a brother before…or a family for that matter.

Suddenly, Bella's thoughts were overpowered by the painful craving in her throat, which amplified dramatically as Charlotte reentered the room with another figure twitching in her arms. Bella dove at the figure ravenously, clamping her teeth tight around its neck and sucking out the sweet nectar she had been thirsting for since awakening that morning.

Once her meal was finished, Bella sat back on the filthy ground and gradually became her old self again. As reason returned to her, Bella took in her surroundings. Before her lay a lifeless figure of a girl, stripped naked and covered in blood. The entire room was covered with it from floor to ceiling to Bella herself, who licked her lips curiously as she realized what she had done. Curiosity turned to shock and shame as she realized what vampire's thrived on: human blood.

Charlotte knelt down next to Bella, taking her by the hand and pulling her upwards. "I'm sorry," empathized Charlotte, "I shouldn't have brought her in here before Peter finished explaining. You see, in order to survive, we have to eat, just like any other creature. And our source of life is blood. _Human_ blood, for the most part anyway. If a vampire fails to drain a human clean of their blood, they become one of us; a vampire."

Bella gasped as all the pieces finally fell into place. The man that night on the beach was a vampire, and he had turned her. Yet it was strange, recalling that night she felt like she had died, as if there was not an ounce of blood left in her. So if humans died when drained of all their blood, why didn't she?

"Here," Charlotte interrupted her musings, handing her a neatly folded pile of clothing, "I figured you'd want something more covering than bloody seaweed."

Bella gratefully took the clothing and Peter and Charlotte stepped outside to give her some privacy, taking the corpse with them. Bella inhaled: the clothing smelled just like the human girl.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took a little longer than usual to update! I had a hard time figuring out how to write this chapter haha. I hope you enjoy it, please review or PM and let me know your thoughts!**

Jasper stood alone in the forest clearing, rain trickling upon his head, droplets slipping from his golden locks. It had been three weeks since he left on his hunting trip; he still felt ill-prepared to face the Cullens again, especially her…

He knew this day would come. Alice never truly loved him, not as a mate anyway. He felt it the moment they met. He may not be a future seer, but as an empath he sensed her reluctance from the start. Nonetheless, she was all he had. When she found him, he had nowhere else to go, and she was so confident in their future, despite the lack of romantic bond. How could he say no? He needed her.

It happened slowly over the last couple of decades, so slowly he almost didn't catch it. The way he gave her that crooked grin; the way it made her eyes light up; the way both of their emotions went absolutely haywire. Edward and Alice were destined to be mates. It was the whole reason Alice wanted to find the Cullens to begin with; he knew that now.

_"Why me?" Jasper asked despairingly, "Why did you need me? You were coming here for _him_. I was nothing more than extra baggage – "_

_"NO!" Alice shrieked, "You know that is not true! I love you! Yes, it may be more like a friend…a brother, even…but you are _not_ insignificant. I need you too, and you need us…I don't know why, but I knew when I saw your face in my first vision that you were meant to be a part of this family."_

_"Then why didn't you stop me from falling for you? Why not explain from the start that it was Edward you were here for?"_

_"Because you wouldn't have come…I tried every other way to get you to come with me, but the visions always ended in greater heartbreak and separation. It was the only way…"_

Jasper left after that, claiming he needed to go hunting although he had only a day earlier. He just couldn't face her. He knew she was right; he only followed her out of some desperate puppy love; a need to belong to someone. Alice gave him that, and deep down he always knew it wouldn't last forever.

Sighing in defeat, Jasper turned away from the internal anguish and forced himself to move forward. Steeling himself as he once had to do every day in the southern wars, Jasper opened his eyes and readied to return to his coven, only to find himself face to face with the source of his despair.

"Alice…" Jasper choked, breaking only briefly before regaining militant composure.

"I wasn't going to force your return before you were ready, but I thought you'd like to know…Peter and Charlotte are coming for a visit. I think you should be there when they arrive."

"When will they be here?"

"Unless their decision changes, I see them arriving tomorrow night."

"Very well. I suppose there's no point in delaying any longer."

"Jasper…" Alice whispered, "We don't have to stay…Edward and I…we can go elsewhere, give you time to adjust – "

"No, Alice, it's alright. I always knew you weren't mine…I just didn't want to believe it. You were the first person since Peter to make me feel human – well, you know what I mean. I'll always love you, but we're not meant for each other. You and Edward are true mates. I felt that connection the moment he laid eyes on you. He loves you more than I ever could; more than I was ever meant to."

Alice's eyes lit up, and she became her bubbly pixie self again, embracing the waves of understanding Jasper was sending to her and allowing the shame to slip away. "Don't worry, Jazz. I know it's hard to believe me now, but you will do great things! I've seen it; you will overcome this heartbreak and discover something even more powerful than your love for me…gosh, this probably sounds really strange coming from your ex."

That last word struck him like a dagger, despite her good intentions. Jasper at least knew she was right about one thing: those words sounded very strange coming from the woman he'd hoped to spend eternity with. Yet he sensed that she believed it…something had changed in her since they last spoke. She seemed so much more at peace with leaving him, as if something was coming that would make all this drama meaningless. Her emotions oozed confidence, joy, and excitement, although she strove to contain them behind a solemn face.

Regardless of understanding her love for Edward and her compassion for himself, Jasper couldn't let down his guard just yet; it hurt too much. This was a job for the Major, a side Jasper had sealed away back in Texas. It was his only defense against his own heart.

Recognizing this cold barrier surrounding Jasper, Alice's eyes filled with sympathy and her face dropped into disappointment. "I suppose I can't expect flowers and butterflies just yet…but we'll be okay again soon…I promise…"

With those last words she turned and flitted back between the trees and toward her home, toward her loving family and the man to whom she would be mated for life. Major Whitlock squared his shoulders and marched into battle, shields up and armor shining.

**So what did you all think? Are you wanting more Jasper in the next chapter or should we see how Bella's holding up? Please share your thoughts, all affirmation and constructive criticism is welcome! :)**


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